Ms Stenmark said yesterday the elevation to SC was "a very daunting prospect." She was one of three barristers chosen from Garfield Barwick Chambers, but said where you practised was no longer an important criterion for selection. Nevertheless, nearly a fifth of the new SCs come from the heart of the NSW Bar, Selborne and Wentworth Chambers.

Ms Stenmark has appeared recently at the Wood Royal Commission and Police Integrity Commission hearings.

She has also featured in some offbeat stories in the media. She and her sisters, among them Chanel public relations manager, Susie Stenmark, featured in a Good Weekend fashion spread eight years ago.

Ms Stenmark grew up in Strathfield and attended Santa Sabina Convent. She began her legal career at her father's law firm in Bankstown.

As the eldest in a family of six girls and one boy, was she the driving, ambitious one?

"My sisters would agree with that. They would probably tell you how bossy I was."